No. 6 Sooners fall to Georgia, Hawaii

Oklahoma gets off to rough start at Cathedral City Classic

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- No. 6 Oklahoma opened play at the Cathedral City Classic Friday afternoon with a pair of losses to ranked opponents. The Sooners (11-3) dropped the opener to top-ranked Georgia, 1-0, before falling to No. 10 Hawaii, 4-1.

No. 10 Hawaii 4, No. 6 Oklahoma 1

OU starter Michelle Gascoigne (3-2) gave up a solo home run to Sharla Kliebenstein in the top of the second to give Hawaii an early 1-0 lead on the Sooners. Oklahoma got a leadoff walk from Jessica Shults in the bottom half of the frame and put runners at first and second when Haley Nix singled through the left side. Javen Henson later drew a two-out walk to load the bases but a lineout ended the inning.

The Rainbow Wahine put two more runs on the board in the third when Jessica Iwata reached on a one-out double and scored on Alex Aguirre’s single up the middle. Aguirre then came around on Melissa Gonzalez’s single to put Hawaii up 3-1.

OU got a base runner in the third on Brittany Williams’ single up the middle and went down in order in the fourth. The Sooners finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth. Brianna Turang started the two-out rally with an infield single and Destinee Martinez reached on an error. Turang scored on a Williams single and Shults loaded the bases on a single but OU left them loaded to end the inning.

Hawaii added a single run in the seventh after Kelly Majam reached on a single and later scored on Aguirre’s single.

Williams drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh but was left on base to end the game.

Allee Allen relieved Gascoigne in the third and Keilani Ricketts pitched the final 3.2 innings of the game for OU. Gascoigne allowed three earned runs on six hits, while Allen gave up just two hits. Ricketts allowed one earned run on two hits and struck out five.

No. 1 Georgia 1, No. 6 Oklahoma 0

Ashley Pauly singled and scored on Taylor Schlopy’s triple to right field in the top of the seventh as the top-ranked Bulldogs downed Oklahoma, 1-0. Alison Owen (2-0) got the win in relief, pitching the final 2.0 innings of the contest. Oklahoma starter Ricketts threw a complete game, allowing the one run on six hits. Ricketts allowed two walks and struck out 12.

The Sooners return to action Saturday against Long Beach State at 12:30 p.m. CT. Oklahoma faces defending national champion and second-ranked UCLA at 8 p.m. CT. Live stats are available at SoonerSports.com.